The Bewitching - Blurred Lines - Book 3

Chapter 3 - Hidden In the Shadows

Annette and Dantes crashed through the door and into Alicia's room. Tobias must have heard the screaming too, as he wasn't far behind. As they entered, they found the room in shambles. Clothes were strewn about the floor, lamps had been knocked over, even the dresser and bed had been overturned. Other than a few rays of the setting sun bouncing through the window the room was almost pitch black, and Alicia was nowhere to be found.

"Mom?" Annette called out to no reply. She took a few more steps into the room with Dantes close behind.

"Mom, you here?" she tried again, stumbling over the mess on the floor. Dantes grabbed her before she could fall and pulled her upright, "Careful."

She nodded and then whispered, "I don't see her."

Dantes' hand fumbled along the wall looking for a switch for the lights. He flipped it, which didn't help much. A low hum, followed by a lamp that sputtered to come to life was all that it achieved.

"Could she have left?" Dantes asked, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the low light.

"I don't see how. The door was locked. It only locks from the outsi..." she started before Dantes hushed her.

"Listen," he whispered. Annette quieted down, attentively listening to the sounds around them. It took her a moment until she picked up on the feint scratching sound that Dantes was referring too.

"What is that?" she asked. Dantes shook his head, unsure of its source himself.

He motioned towards the far end of the room, "It sounds like it's coming from over there." Carefully he stepped over the mess on the floor and made his way to the corner where the noise was emanating from. A large cabinet had been knocked over and leaned against the wall. He kneeled down, placing his ear near it and listened for a few moments longer.

Shaking his head, he grabbed the cabinet and pulled it over revealing a small crawl space door that was slightly ajar. He took another moment of silence to listen intently to the scratching noises that echoed from its darkness. Carefully reaching forward, he pushed it open only to be greeted by an ear shattering scream.

"Mom?!" Annette yelled as she rushed over to Dantes' side and looked into the unlit crawl space. Huddled in the darkest corner, and looking like something out of a horror film, was Alicia. Her eyes were glazed over, and she appeared to be mumbling something under her breath.

Dantes held out his arm, stopping Annette from rushing to her.

"...Careful. She's further gone than I realized," he whispered, taking the lead and entering the crawl space.

"Alicia, can you hear me?" he continued as he moved closer. She didn't respond. It was like she was in her own little world, talking to someone or something that couldn't be seen. Whatever she was saying wasn't a language he was familiar with. It seemed odd, with weird sounds and a clicking of the tongue. If he had to guess, it sounded tribal in nature but also very old, maybe even older than angels and demons themselves.

"Alicia?" he tried again to no avail. He turned his attention back to Annette, "What language is that?"

Annette scrunched her brow as she tried to listen to the words Alicia was muttering, "...I don't know. I've never heard anything like it before."

She reached her hand out to her mom, touching her on the shoulder. It was greeted with an ear shattering scream that caused her to retreat several steps as she covered her ears.

"Mom! Mom stop! Please stop!" she tried yelling over her mom's screech to no avail. The scream continued for at least another minute without a break or gasp for air, far longer than any normal human could achieve, before finally coming to an end.